Time is all around Prithviraj Bhola, but it seems to have stopped inside his small Dehradun watch repair shop.

Bhola, who is eighty-six, has worked with watches and clocks all of his life. And it shows.

When he speaks about timepieces, his voice remains steady, his mind sharp, and his passion unmistakable—even as age slowly begins to catch up with him.

According to Prithviraj Bhola, Watchmaker, “I started working when I was 15 years old. This skill came to me naturally – I inherited it, because both my father and grandfather were watchmakers. Sometimes, I also make my own instruments and equipment to create watch-parts. I have that kind of experience in this work.”

“Mere mein itna experience hai—that’s the kind of experience I have,” he says quietly but confidently when asked whether he can repair vintage timepieces.

For Bhola, the craft was inherited, passed down through the generations, or, as he puts it, came to him naturally, so he didn't need to learn it.

He further adds that, "I have vintage watches. I have repaired watches which were 200 years old, some were even 300 years old – I repaired those also successfully. I have tools and equipment to make watch parts also". 

He is far more skilled than just changing out broken parts. When replacement parts aren't available, Bhola can manufacture them himself, which is a skill that's becoming more and more uncommon.

Mechanical watches, especially, pose a challenge he continues to embrace.

"Mechanical watches required more repair work, now the quartz watches do not require that much work – you just have to replace a faulty part, or replace a worn out battery...and the watch starts working. Quartz watches are very accurate with the time. Repairing mechanical watches required a lot of work – it is very difficult to find their spare parts, because they are now outdated. However, I still have old stock from my father and grandfather's time – I use those to repair those watches," Bhola explained.

According to Bhola, he is frequently approached by people who want to learn how to fix clocks. He asks them a simple question: “How much time do you have?”

Because lifelong skills cannot be learnt in a matter of days or months. He claims that to think otherwise is disrespectful to time itself in addition to being unrealistic.

Dehradun's timekeeper is more aware of time than most people, and he makes thoughtful decisions about how to use it.